See How Much I Love You/Full summary
To the girls surprise, Yoko shows up fully dressed one winters day. It is surprising because she tends to ignore the weather and wear whatever minimal clothing she needs, but she explains that someone who doesn't get cold easily won't get sick. Hearing this convinces Alice to try, but Aya suggests she doesn't take Yoko's advice because she is an idiot (it is believed idiots don't get sick), causing Yoko to tell at her. As the girls head to school they begin to discuss Christmas. Aya asks Alice what an English Christmas is like, so Alice compares it to Japan's New Year. A lot of people believe it to be a couples Holiday, but it is really a celebration for a very special someones birthday- which causes Aya and Yoko to fret a bit, since they never gave it much thought. At school the girls take off their shoes at the locker and are confronted by Karen, who has dressed up as Santa Claus. She tells them to be more festive while telling them how everyone gets excited when Christmas comes. Once in class, Alice asks Shino if she enjoys Christmas and Shino confirms that she does, especially since she will get to spend this one with Alice. Such words touch her deeply. After class, Karen brings up how much of a big deal presents are, so much so that she's already asked for hers, informing them that she wants love. Aya and Yoko are stunned by this as they assumed someone like Karen would expect a big present. They bring this up and she claims she wants more than'' regular love''. Shino recalls hearing something that comes from England and Alice believes her at first until Yoko points out that because Shino is Japanese, she wouldn't know this. Although, Aya decides that for Christmas this year she wants love too. Later, Alice asks Sakura if she has plans to spend Christmas with her boyfriend. Rather than answer, Sakura claims that for her, Christmas is a time for prayer, leading Alice to believe she would be attending Mass. After school Shino gathers a box of plugs and a few other items. She calls for Alice, who joins her and they head outside with Isami to decorate their house. Eventually evening arrives and the girls admire the brilliantly shining lights surrouding their home. They are joined by Aya and Yoko, with Yoko expressing disappointment to find that Isami didn't dress up. She mentions that she thinks Aya would have looked nice dressed up for the Holiday as well, but Aya refused to wear such outfits. Seeing Shino and Karen in the Santa outfits meanwhile, does nothing for her since for Shino it isn't a surprise, while Karen wore hers all day. With that the girls decide to do some things around the house, like preparing the dinner table, playing card games, and taking pictures. A while later, Shino happens to find Alice speaking English with someone on the phone. Alice reveals that it was her parents, and brings up that they had wished for her to come home. But she wanted to see what a Japanese Christmas was like so she chose to spend it here. These words touch Shino and Alice recalls something all of the sudden, so she brings her up to their bedroom and to a nearby window. Later the others prepare to head home when Karen complains over the cold weather. The others comment on how much fun they had before they leave and while on their way home, they talk about how they plan on having parties with their families. Which Aya finds to be such an "English-style" Christmas, though Yoko thinks it's fine since she finds romantic Christmas' to be old-fashioned anyway, but mentions that she thinks Aya would probably prefer that sort of Christmas. As Alice and Shino go to bed, Alice struggles to fall asleep. She really wants to open presents, but Shino tells her to wait since it's still evening. When morning comes, the girls head downstairs to open their gifts. First Shino starts with hers, and she takes out a cute teddy bear. Then Alice opens her own and finds a large rock, which worries her until Shino explains that she grabbed it years back when she visited England. It is her most cherished of items, but Alice doesn't really appreciate or enjoy the gesture much. She tries to appreciate it since it is a present though. They are joined by Isami, who asks Alice if she would like pictures of Shino in the Santa costume she took from yesterday and quicklu Alice accepts them. Days later the girls head back to school, where in class, Yoko asks Aya about her first new years dream. Aya admits that she often sees Yoko in her dreams, which Yoko enjoys knowing until Aya claims she looks much better in them, effectively annoying her. They are joined by Karen, who has dressed up in a Kimono for the holiday. They tell her they are not allowed at the school though, so she decides she will change later and mentions her own dream, which involved something terrible happening to Alice. But before she can finish, they are joined by a very depressed Shino and ask Alice as she comes in a bit later. To their surprise, Alice is dressed up in a different uniform, and she also took to speaking English as a greeting. This causes Karen to panic since in her dream, Alice lost her memory and couldn't speak Japanese anymore and at first they worry it really happened. However, the girls do not take her seriously until they realize she is in fact only speaking in English. Yoko and Aya panic and Shino mentions a nightmare Alice had the other day. She was depressed throughout New Years Day, and this causes the girls to continue to worry until Alice momentarily breaks out of it to question if Shino is alright when she begins choking. During the day, Alice avoids her friends and continues to only speak English. This is upsetting Shino and Aya tries to determine what is going on, suggesting that Alice may just be testing her English. Yoko does not think this is the case though, and Shino wonders if it may just be a big test from Alice since she is unable to speak to her like this. When break approaches Shino makes an attempt to chat with Alice, but the only word she remembers is Hello. Alice doesn't respond and Shino worries that she won't be able to speak to Alice anymore and Yoko asks for Karen to lend a hand, along with Sakura, who offers to help. The duo speak with Alice and she explains that she is upset. They decide not to tell Shino or the others because Karen thinks it may be a self-imposed challenge while Sakura thinks this might be against the rules since she is a teacher. Shino decides to try to use her book to translate what they say but she is still unable to figure out anything and asks if Alice hates her now. Shocked, Alice says something else that Yoko is barely able to identify. Alice apologizes to Shino and admits to what made her worried. The other day, Alice said something and Shino was impressed, but this made her realize that since arrival a few months back, Alice has become a lot more Japanese. This led Alice to dream that she was speaking to Shino and was very happy to be with her, but Shino claimed that she grew sick of Alice and planned to replace her because of her changing. Alice starts to cry and mentions that she did try to rid of the omens but nothing worked. Hearing this, Shino comforts her friend by claiming that no matter how Japanese she grows, she will always be her dear friend. She promises to work a lot harder so that they can speak English together some day, which touches Alice. Hearing them, Karen decides that she wants to become more Japanese too, but Aya and Yoko tell her that she's really improved and ask if she is still unable to speak properly now. Karen tries, but claims it to be too hard since she has gotten into the habit of using broken Japanese. Later, a graduation ceremony approaches and the girls remark on how sad it feels. Shino cheers them up by reminding them that the following year they will become the big sisters of the school, since in Spring they move up a year. Later on at the Omiya household, the girls discuss how much warmer it's getting now. They notice that Alice has fell asleep and she begins to dream of the girls living together as a family. Aya is the mom, Yoko as the dad (though Aya claims her the grandpa), and Alice as the little sister, or so she assumes until a pet dish is sat down for her. Sakura then walks in playing the sister role. Shino then begins to look over a test before telling Alice she's in the way, which wakes her up from the dream. As Alice cries the other girls simply watch with curiosity. Category:Summary Category:Anime Category:Season 1